South China power restrictions to persist into next yr -grid

BEIJING, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Power use restrictions in
southern Chinese provinces will persist into the first half of
next year, as shortages will not ease due to low water and coal
stocks and fast-rising demand, China Southern Power Grid Corp
said.

Power rationing has cut into industrial activities such as
metal smelting in some regions and China's power consumption
grew at the slowest pace this year in August, with the
consumption increase by heavy industry sinking to the
single-digits for the first time since
February.

China Southern Power Grid Corp, operator of grid networks in
China's export hub of Guangdong, hydropower-rich Guizhou, Yunnan
and Guangxi and the island province of Hainan, said power
shortfalls in the five provinces would amount to 14 gigawatts in
the fourth quarter.

The deficit will be between 10 GW to 15 GW in the first half
of next year, the grid firm said.

Last month, the grid ordered the shifting of about 10 GW of
demand from peak hours due to shortages and warned shortages
would last for "a longer period of time" even though the summer
heat was tapering off.

The areas serviced by China Southern Power Grid Corp have
170 GW of power generating capacity, more than 40 percent of
which is from hydroelectric stations.

Current water storage in the Hongshuihe and Wu Rivers were
80 percent less than a year earlier, the lowest on record, and
water flows in the two rivers are estimated to be 60 to 80
percent less than normal in September and 40 to 50 percent less
than usual in winter, the grid firm said.

Water flows in Lanchang River, upstream of the Mekong River,
are expected to be 30 percent less than normal.

Insufficient coal production, poor coal quality and
misalignment between coal and power prices have also curbed
power output, and coal supply outlook in the fourth quarter and
first half of next year allows little room for optimism, the
grid firm said.
Continued...